What does private hire taxi insurance cover?

Private hire taxi insurance covers you to carry pre-booked passengers for payment, which standard car insurance never does. Zego's private hire policy goes further than that: one policy covers private hire work, food and parcel delivery and your own personal driving, on third party only or fully comprehensive cover, as 30-day or annual policies.

Here is the short version before the detail.

• Covered on every Zego private hire policy: pre-booked passenger work, food and parcel delivery, personal driving, liability for damage or injury you cause to other people, and public liability cover up to £10m.
• Covered on fully comprehensive only: your own car if it's damaged, stolen or written off, windscreen repairs and replacements, and your audio and navigation kit.
• Optional extras: breakdown cover, a replacement vehicle licensed for private hire work while yours is repaired, and no claims discount protection.
• Never covered by private hire insurance: street hails and rank work, which need a hackney carriage licence and public hire cover.

Updated 28 October 2026: expanded the page from the two cover levels to the full cover list, added sections on pre-booked and airport work, replacement vehicles and personal use, and brought the product names and links up to date.

Private hire insurance is also sold as PCO insurance, minicab insurance or taxi insurance, and in the trade as hire and reward cover. Whatever it's called, it insures a licensed driver to carry passengers who booked in advance through a licensed operator or an app such as Uber or Bolt. Standard motor insurance doesn't cover that work, however good the no claims record on it.

Third party only

Third party only is the legal minimum and the lower of Zego's two levels of cover. It pays for damage you cause to other people's vehicles and property and for injury or death you cause to other people, and it includes public liability cover up to £10m. It doesn't pay for your own car, so if you hit something with nobody else to claim against, the repair is yours.

Fully comprehensive

Fully comprehensive adds your own car to everything third party only covers: loss, damage or theft of the vehicle and its spare parts, windscreen cover with a £25 excess for repairs or £100 for a replacement, and your audio, communication and navigation equipment up to a £500 limit. For a car that earns your living, that is the difference between a claim and a week off the road at your own expense.

Both levels are set out side by side on Zego's private hire insurance page, and both come as 30-day or annual cover.

Optional extras

Three extras are available.

• Breakdown cover: combined roadside, recovery and home cover within the UK.
• Replacement vehicle: a car licensed for private hire work while yours is being repaired, so you can keep working.
• No claims discount protection: keeps your private hire no claims years safe through one at-fault claim. Zego's guide to private hire NCD protection explains how the discount builds and why it's worth protecting.

One policy for private hire, delivery and personal driving

Zego's private hire policy covers three kinds of driving on one certificate: pre-booked private hire work, food and parcel delivery, and personal use. That matters because private hire insurance on its own only covers hire and reward work, and a policy that stops there leaves you uninsured on the school run. Zego's includes social, domestic and pleasure use, so the same cover applies when you're not working.

Delivery is included too. If you want the detail on what counts as delivery work on a private hire policy, Zego's guide to whether private hire insurance covers delivery work has it.

Does private hire insurance cover airport transfers and pre-booked jobs?

Yes. Pre-booked work is the whole point of private hire insurance, and an airport run is a pre-booked job like any other, whether it comes through Uber, Bolt, FreeNow or a local operator. What decides cover is how the job was booked. A journey booked in advance through a licensed operator or app is private hire work. A passenger who flags you down in the street or walks up to you on a rank is not, and no private hire policy covers that, because the right to take unbooked fares belongs to a hackney carriage licence. Zego's public hire insurance page explains the split.

For long-distance and out-of-area jobs the policy looks at the same thing, how the job was booked. Check the policy documents for any territorial limits before you take a booking far outside your usual area.

Does private hire insurance cover a replacement vehicle while mine is repaired?

On Zego's, only if you add it. A replacement vehicle is an optional extra on Zego's private hire policy, available on 30-day and annual cover, and it isn't included unless you choose it. What makes the extra worth having is that the car you get is licensed for private hire work, so you can keep earning while yours is in the garage. A courtesy car from an ordinary motor policy usually isn't licensed for private hire, so even if you had one you couldn't work in it. When the replacement applies and for how long is set out in the policy documents, so read those before you rely on it.

If the accident wasn't your fault, a claim against the other driver's insurer can sometimes include a hire vehicle, which is a separate route from the policy extra. Ask the claims team which applies before you arrange anything yourself.

Can I drive my car for personal use on a private hire policy?

On Zego's, yes: personal driving is included on every private hire policy. On other policies it depends on the wording. Look for social, domestic and pleasure use, or SD&P, on the certificate. If it isn't there, the policy covers hire and reward work only and your private trips are uninsured.

Standard or telematics, two ways to be priced

Zego private hire cover comes two ways, and the cover list above is the same on both. A standard policy gives you a price that is set up front. An app-based telematics policy saves you up to 17% upfront (T&Cs apply), builds a renewal price that reflects how you drive, and on an annual policy gets you up to £60 a year in gift card rewards for good driving. Both use the Zego app for your documents and certificate, which uploads straight to Uber, Bolt and FreeNow.

What private hire insurance doesn't cover

• Street hails and rank work. That's public hire, under a hackney carriage licence.
• Personal driving on a hire and reward only policy. Zego's includes it; on any other policy, check the certificate for SD&P before you assume.

Private hire cover is written for a licensed driver in a licensed vehicle, so keep your badge and plate current alongside the policy. Zego's guide to the documents you need for private hire renewal lists what to keep in date.

What private hire cover costs is a separate question, and the answer is mostly your record, your car, your postcode and how long you need cover for. Zego's guide to how much taxi insurance costs walks through the levers. Over 100,000 taxi drivers have insured with Zego, and the cover is accepted by Uber, Bolt and all UK councils. If you're new to private hire, start with the guide to private hire insurance for new drivers.